The Stranger
by Burnt Noodles
Summary: An incredibly boring day on Shuggazoom changes when an injured traveler appears. However, suspicions arise when the stranger claims that Shuggazoom is in mortal danger, with no explanation of why that is. I suck at summaries...and titles!
1. In which the story is laid out

**My second fic. I hope it's better than the last.**

**I've taken a huge step in my writing by putting an original character in here. Considering I haven't really proven myself as a writer here yet, I probably shouldn't. But, oh well! I regret NOTHING! And don't worry—my character has no romantic interest with anyone! Yay!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own SRMTHFG and do not claim that I do. C'mon, did you really think I would have a FanFiction account if I did?**

Chiro sighed as he plopped himself next to his fellow teammates outside the robot. The red monkey was telling some joke he heard while the others gazed towards the heavens, not paying much attention. The silver simian blissfully floated just inches above the ground, his eyes half closed. The scientist had his nose in a book while the mechanic kept tugging at his arm to get his attention. The yellow monkey stared at the red one with little interest and yawned. After only a few minutes the red primate gave up and tilted his head towards the sky as a flock of geese soared high above the gargantuan robot.

It had been an unbearably boring week.

Chiro sighed again, only louder this time. An awkward silence hung over the six until a certain green monkey couldn't take it any more.

"This place is _so_ boring!" he shrieked. The other five stared blankly at their friend indifferently. Eventually the red monkey chuckled and broke the silence:

"What a thrilling discovery, genius," said Sprx sarcastically, "I thought Gibson was the smart one."

Gibson glared at his red counterpart. "Now, there's no reason to be rude, Sprx," he began, "Do we poke fun at you when you tell one of your insipid jokes?"

"What does 'insipid' mean?" questioned Chiro. Gibson began to explain but soon noticed that his human friend did not really care. The scientist sighed indignantly and returned to his book.

Sprx, unaware that the conversation was over, turned toward Gibson and angrily retorted, "Of course you do! Just last night—when I told the one about the nun and the astronaut—you said, and I quote, 'Sprx, of all your unsavory jokes, this is the most dreadful. You have no further reason to live. Would you like a blindfold or a cigar?'"

"I said no such thing!" Gibson shouted, "I said your joke was tasteless. No matter how much I wished to turn you over to the firing squad, I did _not_ threaten you!"

Sprx scoffed. "I was joking! Dear Shuggazoom, you're denser than a fruitcake!"

"**I'm** denser than fruitcake? **I'M** denser than a fruitcake?!" Gibson was up by this point and almost ready to strangle Sprx when Antuari held up a hand.

"We all need to calm down. I'll not have us quarrelling amongst ourselves like this." The silver monkey gently separated the two as he lowered himself to the ground. "If the body is constantly attacking itself, it will have no strength to attack the diseases that truly mean to harm it."

Gibson and Sprx stared at the ground, ashamed.

"Well, it's not entirely their fault," Nova began, "I mean; it _is_ really boring 'round here."

Chiro sighed once more. "She's right. Nothing has happened for over a month. I guess when you've got no one to fight, you wanna pick a fight with someone else."

"Perhaps…" replied Antauri. Antauri did not truly think that to be the case. He believed that his friends were just becoming a bit irritated, like a small child who desperately needs a nap. It wasn't a topic he wished to consider, however, so the spiritual master pushed the thought away and sat down, pondering something else entirely.

Otto stood a few feet away, regretting he had said anything in the first place.

Chiro was quietly thinking to himself, wishing for some form of a conversation. In all honesty, he'd rather have an argument than an awkward silence. Leaning back, he reflected on how he used to pray at night for a peace like this in which there would be no monsters to fight, no Skeleton King to chase—a time when he could play videogames or talk to his friends without having to worry about being kidnapped by obsessed fans or some such nonsense. Now it was so dull he silently wished for that alarm ring so that he could kick some alien butt with the rest of the team.

A cool wind was quietly blowing in from the north, making the rolling pastures ripple against a clear blue sky. It was early- to mid-spring, and the narcissuses were in full bloom near the robot. A few lone butterflies fluttered along with the breeze while some finches called to each other, probably saying, "Food this way! Food this way!"

Of course, Sprx saw the world differently. When the red monkey heard the birds, he instead believed them to say, "Holy crap! There's a giant robot standing in the middle of the field!" Sprx chuckled to himself. Whenever there was lack of excitement, our little jester could amuse himself quite easily, filling the void created by not being able to make fun of his enemies.

In a strange way, Sprx's belief may have been true, for right as he thought this, a small black dot fell against the robot's head, creating a large hollow pang that ricocheted throughout the field in which the robot stood. Surprised, the team looked up inquisitively as the dot then fell to the robot's shoulder. This was followed by it silently rolling off and hurtling towards the ground. As the dot fell, it grew bigger, too big to be a mere finch.

The dot came closer and closer. Soon the team discovered that the dot had four limbs which grew clearer as the thing neared the dirt. It was a person!

Thinking fast, Gibson ran towards the clearing where the figure was destined to fall. His teammates followed close behind. Within moments, the figure fell to the ground, face down. Gibson winced and looked away.

Suddenly, Chiro cautiously stepped forward and inched his way towards the person. He could now see that the figure was clad entirely in black. On closer examination, it appeared to be a space suit with a broken oxygen tank and severely cracked helmet. In fact, the entire suit looked badly beaten.

"Be careful, Chiro," warned Antauri. Chiro turned toward his friend. "C'mon, Antauri," replied the boy with a nervous smile, "I highly doubt this thing's gonna hurt me." Chiro looked again at the figure. "There's no way he can be alive."

Right as Chiro said this, the body wobbled to its feet and held out a desperate hand. Within the clouded helmet—for it was far too dark to make out a face—glowed two bright blue lights where eyes should be.

Chiro spun around. A muffled voice from within the helmet gasped, "Chosen…One…help…me…"

Too frightened to move or scream, Chiro stared with wide eyes at what stood before him. The figure's hand grasped Chiro's with a surprising amount of strength, unintentionally pulling off the leader's glove. Again, the chilling voice whispered, "Help…please!"

"I'll get him, Chiro!" cried Otto from behind. The monkey leaped before his friend and activated his saws, determined to protect him at any cost.

Before Otto could do anything, however, the lights in the helmet disappeared as the figure abruptly collapsed.

Antauri hovered over to the figure and gently slipped off its own glove. He gripped the body's wrist and slowly counted in his head the figures heartbeats. After a time, he sadly shook his head.

Gibson staggered over to his silver friend. Looking down at the figure, he whispered, "I don't suppose he's…?"

"No," Antauri replied before he had finished his sentence. "Not yet, at least. He's still alive, though his heart rate is dangerously erratic. I suggest taking him to the sick bay immediately.

Sprx glanced at a very confused Chiro, probably still shocked about what had just occurred. "Well," Sprx began, "you said you wanted some excitement 'round here."

**MUFFINS! Okay, so it's not the greatest thing on FanFiction, but it's only my second fic. It's also my first SRMTHFG and semi-serious one. I promise it WILL get better.**

**Also, I'd love some reviews. In other words, review or DIE! Please? They make me happy…like muffins.**


	2. In which plotholes are created

Otto gently poked the frozen figure that lay before him. Nothing happened. He poked it again. Nothing happened. Just as he was about to poke the figure a third time, a silver metal hand reached out and held it back. The silver simian sighed. "That's quite enough, Otto."

Embarrassed, Otto felt his face flush deep red, and slowly retracted his arm.

Chiro stood a few steps away and gazed curiously at the figure. _How can he still be alive?_ he thought. _I mean, just look at him. He looks like he was eaten by a lion, spat out, and eaten again. And how the heck did he get here?_ Chiro heaved a sigh and looked towards Gibson, who was eagerly doing something on a nearby computer. "Uh, Gibson?" he asked.

"Er, yes, Chiro?" replied Gibson, a bit startled.

"What's gonna happen to him?"

Gibson pondered for a moment. "Well," he began, "once he wakes up, I intend to run a few scans to see exactly how he happened to crash into the robot."

"Well, why can't we just ask him?" questioned the boy.

Gibson heaved a sigh. "Chiro, this man has obviously received a dangerous beating—and not just from crashing into the robot, which I'm certain didn't help the matter. He's probably sustained a concussion and needs intensive care. I highly doubt he'll remember his name, let alone what happened to him. I'm already shocked he's alive."

Chiro slowly closed his eyes, then opened them again. "I've still got some questions to ask him," he muttered under his breath.

Next to Gibson stood a certain yellow monkey, staring intently at a screen. The image showed a single white line moving up and down in no particular pattern—the line would go up-and-down evenly at two one intervals for a time, then move up-and-down at half-seconds, then one second again. Sometimes the line wouldn't even have that much a sequence and would move up-and-down randomly.

There were several different monitors in the sick bay showing several different things. One showed breathing levels, one metabolism, and another—the one Nova was examining—heart rate. As Nova continued to watch the screen, she discovered that the line was now beginning to resemble a more natural pattern. Gradually, the line began moving up-and-down at a normal speed with minimal erratic dips or peaks.

Suddenly, though, that pattern changed. The line began to move much faster, leaving almost no time between the dips and peaks. It grew faster. And faster.

"Gibson!" Nova cried, pointing at the screen. Gibson turned around and gasped. His friends noticed what was going on and did the same.

Antauri was the first to react. "Quick, team! Where's that blood thinner?"

Unfortunately, he was too late. Within seconds, the line on the monitor went flat, as did the lines on the other two screens.

Chiro realized what had happened. "Oh…" The leader bit his lip.

Gibson's eyes were wide with shock and disbelief. "We're…we're too late…" The rest of the team bowed their heads.

Their mourning, however, was interrupted with a groan. Nova's head shot up and almost instinctively turned toward the screen with the heart rate she had been studying. The line wiggled a moment, then resumed the pattern it had achieved only a minute earlier.

Another groan resounded throughout the sick bay. The figure sat up, moaned once more, and then lay down again. Otto, who was nearest to the person, staggered over to the head. Confused, he reached out a hand and lightly touched the figure's shoulder. The head slowly turned toward the green monkey, paused, and, just as slowly, sat up. Raising its hands, the figure painstakingly removed its helmet. Out tumbled a shoulder's length of dark brown hair. Pushing the locks out of her face, the figure stared at the monkey with huge blue-gray eyes. The monkey stared at her.

They both screamed.

A gloved hand grasped the girl's mouth. "Quiet!" shushed the hand's owner, "It's two in the morning! Do you wannna wake up the whole planet?"

The frazzled girl looked around. Her eyes wandered from Chiro to Otto and back again. She soon noticed the rest of the team and started to scream again. The hand still on her mouth, however, kept her from following through with her plan. Coming back to her senses, the girl gave Chiro an irritated look and indignantly said something muffled by the glove.

Chiro, realizing that she couldn't speak while gagged, removed his hand. "Uh, sorry 'bout that," he nervously explained, "You see, we were all kina startled and, uh…yeah." The girl glared at Chiro for a minute. Then she opened her mouth, only to be interrupted by a red monkey.

"You're a chick!"

The "chick" looked fiercely at Sprx. "Really? Heh, ya know, I haven't noticed. Enlighten me, wise one. Tell me more about myself."

Sprx paused for a moment, then chuckled. "This one's good," he said, pointing at the girl. "She'll be fun to tick off." At this, the girl glared at the monkey and said nothing.

It was now Otto's turn to be surprised. "You're okay!" he shouted. The primate was most likely referring to what occurred not ten minutes ago. In fact, only Sprx and Chiro seemed to have recovered from the phenomenon that had just taken place.

The girl turned toward Otto, confused. "Huh?"

Otto's face reflected the girl's bewilderment. Antauri stepped forward, cleared his throat, and began to speak: "Miss, do you remember anything?"

The girl looked down and furrowed her brow. "Well…I remember…some stuff…"

"Like what?" Antauri inquired.

She looked up again and stared at the silver primate. "You look familiar," she said.

"Pardon?"

Noticing the perplexity on the monkey's face, the girl blinked. "Uh, it's nothing. Probably just déjà vu."

Antauri blinked as well. Suspicion crept into the spiritual master's mind. "What is your name, miss?"

The girl's face lit up. She smiled. "My name," she said, "is Alexandra C. Cunningham. But I just go by Alex. It saves time." The girl smiled again. "What's your name?"

Antauri blinked once more. _The girl is oddly friendly_, thought the spiritual master. Resuming his normal calm state, he replied, "I am best known as Antauri. I am the second in command of the Hyperforce." Antauri extended his arm toward his friends. "These are my teammates."

Picking up on Antauri's cue, Chiro stepped forward. "I'm Chiro, the leader of the team."

Otto, Nova, and Sprx soon followed. Next was Gibson. "My name," he began, "is Mr. Hal Gibson. But do not call me mister, or Hal, just Gibson. I am the Head of Science on the Monkey Team." The monkey beamed with pride. He always enjoyed sharing his prestigious title with others.

Alex stared at the blue monkey. She looked down at her feet, furrowed her brow, and said nothing. A heavy silence hung over the group. Finally Gibson cleared his throat. "Um, Miss—Alex, is it?—you were about to tell us what happened to you?"

The girl looked up, rubbed her eyes, and began to speak. "Uh, yeah. Well, um, gosh, it's kind of a long story." Alex paused for a moment to clear her thoughts. "All I can remember, though, is this huge ship-thing comin' straight for ours."

"Your what, Alex?" Gibson inquired.

"Oh. Our ship. Yeah. You see, I'm a hitchhiker," she continued, "Yeah, and I was currently on this spaceship called the _Carnatic_. I had, um, been on this one for a pretty long time. Being a hitchhiker and all, it's rare that I stay in one place for more than a week. But anyways, I'd lived on the _Carnatic_ for a few months. I was gettin' to know everyone and makin' friends and stuff. You know. All that jazz. So the guys on the ship were startin' to trust me more and had asked me to replace the A-35 unit—that's the, uh, transmitting device. It helps all the ships communicate with one another and—"

"We know what an A-35 unit is," interrupted Sprx.

"Oh, okay, good," replied Alex, annoyed. "As I was saying, I had to replace the A-35 unit after it had broken down. So I, um, went out and replaced it when I saw this, this just enormous ship comin' towards us. My curiosity got the best of me and I let myself float closer to it. The closer I was, the bigger the thing got. Man, it was huge! I mean, just ginormous! And it was made of somethin' weird. Not metal or anything. It was like…man; the only word that can describe it is bone. Yeah, that's it, it was this huge spaceship made of bone."

At this, the team looked at one another with worried expressions. Antauri, Otto, and Chiro whispered something to one another. Fortunately, Alex did not notice.

Alex took a deep breath and asked for a drink of water. Gibson fulfilled the request and handed the girl a glass. Taking it thankfully, Alex recommenced with her story. "So, um," she resumed, "I started freakin' out and tried to fly back to my ship. Suddenly, this big beam-thing shot out of the other ship and went straight for the _Carnatic_." Alex exhaled and rubbed her temples. "There was this terrible scream…then silence. After that, I saw this blindingly bright light flash before me. Then darkness. And that's all I remember." The girl buried her head in her arms and said nothing. No tears, no whimpers. Just silence.

Gibson compassionately placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "I am so dreadfully sorry," whispered the blue monkey. Alex looked up and brushed the hand away. "Aw, don't be. It's not like it's your fault. Besides, there's nothing to do 'bout it now." Alex sighed. All of a sudden, she brightened and hopped off the sick bay's bed. Realizing this was too much for her battered body, she groaned and sat back down.

Sprx approached the girl. "Hey, there. Don't get so excited. You've been through some car wreck. You should just relax and…and—what is that thing on your arm?!" The red simian pointed toward a bulky mass of rusty, dented metal that lay motionless on Alex's forearm. Startled, Alex held up her arm. Realizing what it was, the girl grinned. "Sophie!"

"Sophie?" came a chorus of bewildered voices.

Alex laughed. "Sophie! Aw, girl, I thought I'd lost you!"

Otto approached the girl and gazed up inquisitively. Again, Alex laughed. "Activate."

Without warning, two little green lights lit up on top of the lump of metal. The unimposing mass quickly rose from the girl's arm and transfigured itself into an insect-like robot. From a rusty frame protruded six jointed legs, three on each side. From the android's cranium projected two misshapen antennae that slightly twitched with every new sound the robot experienced. On the creature's back rested two warped metal wings. The machine fluttered its wings for a moment as if unsure how to use them. However, the robot promptly got the feel of its distorted appendages and proceeded to flitter over to its owner's shoulder. The robot's miniature green eyes observed their surroundings and the creature, after some more flittering, finally relaxed.

Alex tenderly petted the robot and then gazed back into the eyes of a puzzled green monkey. Noticing how confused the monkey was, Alex happily explained, "This is Sophie. She's a Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic Computer Insect, or HALI. Most people would pronounce it as 'Haley,' but since I don't care for that name, I just call her Sophie. She was a gift from my friend, Brian. Isn't she awesome? Aw, poor thing. You're more beat-up than I am." Alex took a finger and lovingly petted her friend's head.

Otto, noticing Alex's affection for her pet, was just about to offer to repair Sophie when Chiro shouted, "But who are you?"

Looking up, Alex scoffed. "Well, I did just go through that speech a second ago, but if you need it, I don't mind repeating myself. It's Alex. A-L-E-X. The bestest name in the universe."

Chiro, embarrassed by his explosion but insulted by Alex's rudeness, groaned indignantly. "You _know_ that's not what I mean. Look, not to sound rude or anything, but I'd like an explanation of what happened yesterday."

Alex straightened up. "Well, not to sound rude or anything, but I don't _know_ what happened yesterday, 'kay? I'm still tryin' to figure out what happened a year ago!"

Chiro cocked an eyebrow. "Yeah? What happened a year ago?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"Oh?"

Alex sighed. "Look, it's none of your business. I'm sure if it happened to you, you wouldn't be so eager to talk 'bout it either."

Chiro crossed his arms. "Well, in that case, maybe you _should_ tell us. We just might be able to help you if we knew what it was. It'd also be nice to know why you called me 'Chosen One' yesterday."

"'Chosen One?' Why? Are you learning to master the Force? Is Obi Wan over there your jedi master?" replied Alex harshly, pointing at Antauri. "Look, dude, I've never seen you or any of your monkey friends before and if I somehow insulted you by unconsciously calling you 'Chosen One' then I apologize." With that Alex crossed her arms, mimicking Chiro's aggravated appearance.

Chiro blinked. "'Obi Wan?' Ugh, whatever. You didn't insult me. I just wanted to know how you knew."

"I didn't. I don't. I have no idea what you're talking about."

Trying to calm himself, Chiro exhaled. "Okay," he said, "I'm sorry." Alex said nothing. "But it's gonna be hard to trust you when you don't tell us who you are."

Alex stared blankly at Chiro. "Likewise."

Chiro blinked again. It was now Antauri's turn to speak. "What do you mean by that?" asked the primate.

Alex shrugged. "It's gonna be hard to trust you guys when you don't tell me who you are."

Antauri thought for a moment. _What is she saying?_ Pushing the thought away, he replied, "We are the Super Robot Monkey Team Hyperforce."

"Go!" shouted an eager Otto.

Alex stared at the silver simian. "That's not a name. That's a sentence."

Antauri heaved a sigh. "We are on a mission to protect the galaxy from the evils of the Skeleton King."

Alex scoffed. "Good God…what crazy planet am I on?" she whispered to herself with a shake of the head. Antauri, his keen sound receptors hearing her comment, answered calmly, "On Shuggazoom, miss."

Alex, taken aback at Antauri's ability to here her, eyeballed the monkey. Suddenly, the girl's face went white. "You're joking, right?"

Antauri shook his head. Suddenly, the monkey caught sight of something shimmering by the collar of the girl's space suit. "What's that?"

Alex looked to where the monkey was pointing. Touching a silver chain hanging around her neck, she pulled out a necklace. At the chain's center was a blue and white pendant resembling a strange circle that loosely looked like the five metal monkeys Alex had just met. "Oh, this?" she said, holding up the pendant, "I dunno. It's my necklace. I've had it for as long as I can remember. Why do you ask?"

Before Antauri could reply, Chiro broke into the conversation again. "Look, you shouldn't be here."

Alex looked intently at the boy. "What is it with you guys and changing the subject?"

Ignoring her last statement, Chiro squinted. "Okay, look, you literally fell from the sky, had a heart attack—or somethin'—and revived yourself. You said you were a hitchhiker on a spaceship that was destroyed. And somehow you managed to make it here and crash into our robot, alive."

Alex scratched her head. "Heh. It does sound kinda far-fetched, doesn't it? Like some badly-written fanfic."

"Fanfic?" Chiro said to no one in particular, "Ugh, forget it. I'm not gonna be satisfied until you tell us where you're from, how you got here, how you knew I was the Chosen One, and who the heck Brian is."

Alex's eyes brightened. "So you _were_ listening, eh? Well, I don't know how the hell I got here or what a 'Chosen One' is, but Brian was my best friend back on Earth."

Chiro cocked an eyebrow. "Earth?"

"Earth. Yeah." Alex had another sip of the water Gibson had gotten her earlier. "You see, my mom died in a car wreck when I was little. So it was just me and my dad most of the time. And, though I loved my dad to death, I felt kind of lonely. I'm not an extremely popular or likeable person—yeah, I know you're shocked—and I didn't have a whole lot of friends. But I did have one: Brian." Alex smiled. "Brian was the awesomest guy, I swear. He was a genius. He made my little Sophie." Alex gave her bug a gentle pat. "Sophie's like my dog—except she doesn't make my face swell up."

Chiro blinked.

"Yeah, I'm allergic to dogs."

Chiro yawned. It was about four o' clock in the morning, and he hadn't closed his eyes once. "Well, that's lovely. But I've still got one question: why'd you leave Jupiter?"

"Earth."

"Yeah. That's what I meant."

Alex sighed. "I'd rather not talk about it."

"Sure, fine!" shouted Chiro, exasperated. "Just forget I ever said anything!"

Chiro plopped himself onto the floor and rubbed his temples, frustrated with Alex's stubbornness. Alex, however, had still been thinking of what Antauri said during the entire conversation. _Shuggazoom?_ she thought, _Isn't that the place Brian was talking about? Oh my God…_

Suddenly, Alex grasped Antauri's arm. "You guys aren't safe here!"

Antauri turned to examine Alex's face. For the first time since Antauri met the girl, her face was serious, and not only that, but full of fear. Alex shook Antauri's arm with a surprising amount of force. "You've gotta get out of here! This place is dangerous!"

Nova stepped forward. "What? Why? What's wrong, Allie?"

"My name's Alex!"

"Bless you."

Alex let go of Antauri's arm. "I'm…not sure…Brian told me something bad was gonna happen here…and…I feel it, too…"

Sprx cocked an eyebrow. "Wow. That was informative."

Ignoring Sprx's comment, Alex yawned, stretched her arms, and fell asleep right there on the sick bay's table.

**I'm sorry, guys. I promised you it would get better, and…I failed!! I no longer have any reason to live. cries**

**But I will continue the story. And I really do think it will get better. This chapter isn't so good because I've been rushing to get it finished. Pardon me for any typos and for the abrupt ending. **

**Ooh…I just left you guys with another cliff hanger. What's going to happen? Ooh…okay I'll shut up. **


End file.
